With growing environmental awareness, consumers are drawn to sustainable offerings. Greenwashing—false environmental claims—has made consumers skeptical and impacted purchasing behaviour. Understanding greenwashing perception is vital to studying sustainable consumer behaviour, especially in India where research is limited. This paper explores greenwashing and sustainable consumer choices through a quantitative research design, using data from 223 Indian consumers analyzed via SEM and Mediated SEM in Stata. Employing the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the study examines the role played by environmental knowledge, green skepticism, social influence, and perceived moral obligation in sustainable consumption and green purchase intention, with greenwashing perception acting as a mediator. The findings suggest that perceived moral obligations are the strongest driver for greenwashing perceptions, as well as for green purchase intentions and sustainable consumption behaviour. Environmental knowledge enhances greenwashing perception and sustainable behaviour. Green skepticism affects sustainable choices indirectly via greenwashing perception. Social influence affects greenwashing perception in a negative manner but sustainable consumption and purchase intention in a positive manner. These insights can help shape strategies that build consumer trust and promote genuine sustainable practices.